In a sign of just how worried Democrats are about Congressman Ron Klein’s political fortunes, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz staged a protest Friday outside the Deerfield Beach headquarters of Klein’s Republican challenger.

Wasserman Schultz went after Klein opponent Allen West for columns he has written in a magazine also containing images of women she termed “degrading, sexist and misogynistic.”

The Friday event was designed to generate negative publicity for West. And it worked, drawing a pack of newspaper and television reporters.

But bringing out a congresswoman from an adjacent district, who also is a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and a leader in the party’s efforts to retain control of the House, underscored the precarious state of Klein’s bid for a third term.

“It’s a sign of how worried the Democrats are that West really has a chance to win this seat,” said political scientist Sean Foreman of Barry University. “I think it’s more desperation than anything.”

The event came a day after an independent poll showed West, a Republican from Plantation who is a favorite of tea party activists, with a slight lead over Klein, a Democrat from Boca Raton. They’re competing in the 22nd Congressional District, which takes in mostly coastal communities in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

The Sunshine State News poll showed West with 47 percent of the vote and Klein with 44 percent. Another 9 percent were undecided.

The margin of error in the poll was plus or minus 3.46 percentage points, meaning Klein and West are effectively tied. Independent ratings all list Klein as the only South Florida incumbent with a chance of losing his re-election bid.

“By most objective standards, it’s pretty close to a dead-heat race,” said Kevin Wagner, a political scientist at Florida Atlantic University.

The latest campaign finance reports, due to the Federal Election Commission by midnight Thursday, showed more bad news for Klein. It was the sixth consecutive fundraising period that West outraised Klein.

West raised $409,000, and Klein took in $184,000 from Oct. 1 through Oct. 13. And West had $1.2 million in cash on hand, far more than Klein’s bank balance of $178,000.

The Democrats staged Friday’s event to highlight writings by West in a publication, Miami Mike’s Wheels on the Road.

The publication, which contains many racy pictures, and even racier words, lists West as a contributing writer. The magazine has depicted women’s roles as sexually serving men and said they should wear “slave chokers” as accessories.

In the October 2010 issue, West’s column “Washingtoons” appears on page 20. Another column, on page 40, says the upcoming election is the time to get rid of “Barry Obongo,” and asks readers in some detail to imagine having sex with Wasserman Schultz.

“The disgusting images and language in this magazine have no place in our community, no place in our country, and certainly, no place in Congress,” Wasserman Schultz said.

The congresswoman — joined by Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, Coconut Creek Mayor Lisa K. Aronson, and about 70 protesters — called on West to condemn the images and admit his association with the publication was a mistake.

Even though West is listed as a contributor to the magazine, his campaign manager, Josh Grodin, said “it’s absolutely ridiculous” to say West is associated with it. “Allen’s never said one thing to denigrate anybody. It doesn’t make sense what they’re trying to insinuate here.”

Grodin said West didn’t provide anything to the magazine that didn’t go to any other publication or Internet site that would use it.

“Allen’s just throwing it out to a wide audience, and whoever picks it up picks it up,” Grodin said. He said West is happy to have his columns in Wheels on the Road, or any other publication, because he wants his message to get out to as many people as possible.

And he said there’s no plan to admit a mistake or distance West and the campaign from the magazine. “Whoever has a problem with the content of this magazine needs to talk to the editor of this magazine,” Grodin said.

“Miami Mike,” listed in the magazine as its publisher, could not be reached for comment on Friday.

The demonstration didn’t appear to bother anyone inside the West headquarters, where it was business as usual. About 50 volunteers were working at midday. The 16 phone lines were all being used, and by the time the Klein demonstration was over early in the afternoon, Grodin said his team had made 7,000 calls to potential voters.

He dismissed the Klein event as a publicity stunt that shows the Democrats are desperate. “They’re losing the election and they’re trying to use the media to get their message out,” he said. “They’re going to make up a lot of lies. Everything they’re saying, there’s not a lot of basis to it.”

Wagner said the protest was a good move. “It’s a relatively inexpensive way to garner publicity, especially toward the end of the campaign where money isn’t as easy. A good protest or a good rally is a good way to get some publicity and get the base mobilized.”

Even though it got the Democrats the television coverage they covet, Foreman said he wasn’t sure it would help Klein. “It looks like divisive politics. I hate to use the phrase ‘typical Washington politics’ but that’s what it is. They’re using a wedge issue, gender equality, the way women are represented in society.”

And Wagner said it could alienate some independent voters.

Wagner also said it could be a plus if it helps motivate women to support Klein and oppose West. Democrats can’t win without motivated female voters, he said. “The women’s vote has become a central part of the Democratic coalition,” he said.

Democrats acting to shore up such an important part of their constituency show they see Klein as in trouble. “At this point in the campaign if they’re going to their base, they must think it’s really tight,” Wagner said.

As for the principals, neither West nor Klein was anywhere close to the action Friday in Deerfield Beach. Both were campaigning in northern Palm Beach County.

Comments

The most basic question you see, is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best? I reject the proposition of the Left, based in recrimination, which in order to control a people would prevent them from realizing capitalism knows only one thing, color: that color is green; all else is necessarily subservient to it, hence, race, gender and ethnicity cannot be considered within it.

Representative Wasserman-Schultz always assumes that if you don't believe in her party's particular political solutions, then you don't really care about the people they claim to want to help.

One of the most pervasive political visions of our time is the notion of liberals like Wasserman-Schultz being compassionate and conservatives as less caring. Though the mystical references to society and its programs to help may warm the hearts of the gullible, what it really means is putting more power in the hands of bureaucrats.

The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers. That's because talkers are usually more articulate than doers, since talk is their specialty.
Well today was no different. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz never being one to disappoint, sure did a lot of "talking" outside of Colonel West's campaign office. While the Colonel's staff was inside doing what a serious candidate's staff is always doing ... They were working.

As for me,...Ron's time has come.I can't in good faith vote for him.Instead of researching and really looking at the issues..Ron has sadly voted on many bills that affect me without reading the bill.
When I call his office ,...all I can ever get for an answer is "ahhhh,duhhhh" { and thats washington folks....}.Ron has made it a point NOT to hold a town hall meeting,instead hides behind a phone...
Ron I give up on you, my vote is for West.Count the SS number,the biker gig crap,attacking the man and no offer of just what you are going to do to get our country repaired as just a few of the reasons why..... I don't want you do rep. me any more.Ron,....just did not do his job that he swore he would....

@Grodin: Go Back to D.C. You national Right Wing Strategist HACK.
Neither you or West are from Florida and it shows that you do not understand this community by continuing to spew your vile political positions here.
The Local Unemployment and Foreclosure rate is not the fault of a lone Democratic Representative but Rather the failed hands off financial policies that are endorsed by conservatives and your candidate Allen West.
Republicans have fought all reforms on these issues: JOBS, FINANCIAL REFORM, RECOVERY EFFORTS.
West wants to cut taxes for the Rich , BUT Raise them on the Poor and Middle Class with a Proposed Flat tax. Laughable. That worked great for Forbes' Presidential Run.
Democratic Policies were not the ones who put our country into financial ruin.
You and West continue to try and distort Historical Facts for political gains, but America is not that stupid- we remember who made this mess.
It should be of NO surprise to you and Allen West that Citizens who Actually Live in District 22 (which West does not) are disgusted that some outsiders want to spew political hatred in our community.
We are District 22 and we will not tolerate your Fear/Warmongering, Religious Bigotry, Political Divisiveness, Incendiary Rhetoric, and Intimidation Tactics.
We have every right to speak up, and should.
You want to spew your hatred, book another appearance on Fox News.
But don't drag my community into your ideological war.
Here's a clue West and you don't even have to torture me for this information: People don't like you because you have no respect for opposing points of view. You are no longer on the battlefield. Treating U.S. Citizens that do not think like you as a mortal enemy, only shows you lack the character to be a true Representative in Congress and of the People of My Congressional District (not yours).

The Fact is that we know very little about West's positions on the Real Issues because he predicates his entire candidacy on Extreme Right Wing Ideology rather than constructive and realistic ways of addressing the needs of Florida and America.

It does seem that Mr. Klein is a bit desparate.......and well should be. His voting history in D.C., which he never talks about, makes me not even consider voting for him. Personally, I am behind Mr. West all the way!

This little episode yesterday in front of Allen West's campaign office revealed how conditioned some have become; responding like Pavlov's dog when they hear a certain sound. In this case, the sound of some politically correct crusade fabricated by Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and her band of nattering nabobs of progressivism.

People are all born ignorant but they're not born stupid. Having said that, much of the stupidity we saw yesterday in Deerfield Beach, was induced by the Left in an effort to detract from the real issues of this campaign.

In a high-tech age that has seen the creation of artificial intelligence by computers, we are also seeing the creation of artificial stupidity by people on the Left who call themselves proven leaders; much the same way Debbie Wasserman-Schultz does.

To be fair, many conservatives have also protested... but it's been against the specifics of the liberal policies with which Democrats are continually trying to indoctrinate people.

Republicans to their credit are encouraging voters to break themselves of this lazy habit, instilled in many Americans every election cycle by the Democratic party. A habit which manifests itself when people hear but one side of an issue and are then galvanized into action without hearing the other side... preventing of course, some folks from systematically testing one set of beliefs against the other.

With time, and under normal circumstances, the experiences of life can help people outgrow whatever it is they have been wrongly indoctrinated. However, the fact of the matter is nothing of late has been normal... And we sure as hell don't have the time to wait for every person to grow out of that "hopey-changey" spell Mr Obama cast over them in 2008.

It was once the proud declaration of most of our elected representatives that "we are here to encourage you to think, not tell you what to think". But today, things have changed. Far too many of our friends on the Left are not just telling their constituents what to think, but in the case of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, she's been telling Americans what to do.... on everything from global warming to the new trinity of "race, class and gender."

At first glance, you would think a couple of comedians were behind this ploy yesterday in Deerfield Beach. But there is nothing funny about its implications. It has become one of the grim and dangerous signs of our times.

What is ominous is the ease with which some people on the left go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long.

thanks to the sun sentinel and my local union. after seeing their endorsements of sad liberals, and obama cheerleaders, they have made it so easy to decide.klein is just another male liberal pansy,and wasserman-schultz is just another dismal obama do-girl.hopefully, south florida will get out of the sun and regain their senses on nov 2.

The congresswoman — joined by Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, Coconut CThe congresswoman — joined by Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, Coconut Creek Mayor Lisa K. Aronson, and about 70 protesters — called on West to condemn the images and admit his association with the publication was a mistake. BUT how about admitting associating with Obama was a bigger mistake since his so called CHANGE if elected was nothing but a killer to this economy along with jobs and our largest debt in history which Debbie and Ron helped us get into this mess and instead of promoting yourself because you are the present elected officials so are to blame for it why are you only finding fault and not promoting yourselves? Let me guess YOU DON'T HAVE ANY POSITIVE THINGS TO SAY LOL EXCEPT I SCREWED ALL THE PEOPLE BUT ITS OK BECAUSE WERE BETTER THEN THE CONSTINTUANTS WE REPRESENT. Guess what? FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE GET A JOB HAHAHA reek Mayor Lisa K. Aronson, and about 70 protesters — called on West to condemn the images and admit his association with the publication was a mistake. BUT how about admitting associating with Obama was a bigger mistake since his so called CHANGE if elected was nothing but a killer to this economy along with jobs and our largest debt in history which Debbie and Ron helped us get into this mess and instead of promoting yourself because you are the present elected officials so are to blame for it why are you only finding fault and not promoting yourselves? Let me guess YOU DON'T HAVE ANY POSITIVE THINGS TO SAY LOL EXCEPT I SCREWED ALL THE PEOPLE BUT ITS OK BECAUSE WERE BETTER THEN THE CONSTINTUANTS WE REPRESENT. Guess what? FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE GET A JOB HAHAHA

The congresswoman — joined by Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, Coconut CThe congresswoman — joined by Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, Coconut Creek Mayor Lisa K. Aronson, and about 70 protesters — called on West to condemn the images and admit his association with the publication was a mistake. BUT how about admitting associating with Obama was a bigger mistake since his so called CHANGE if elected was nothing but a killer to this economy along with jobs and our largest debt in history which Debbie and Ron helped us get into this mess and instead of promoting yourself because you are the present elected officials so are to blame for it why are you only finding fault and not promoting yourselves? Let me guess YOU DON'T HAVE ANY POSITIVE THINGS TO SAY LOL EXCEPT I SCREWED ALL THE PEOPLE BUT ITS OK BECAUSE WERE BETTER THEN THE CONSTINTUANTS WE REPRESENT. Guess what? FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE GET A JOB HAHAHA reek Mayor Lisa K. Aronson, and about 70 protesters — called on West to condemn the images and admit his association with the publication was a mistake. BUT how about admitting associating with Obama was a bigger mistake since his so called CHANGE if elected was nothing but a killer to this economy along with jobs and our largest debt in history which Debbie and Ron helped us get into this mess and instead of promoting yourself because you are the present elected officials so are to blame for it why are you only finding fault and not promoting yourselves? Let me guess YOU DON'T HAVE ANY POSITIVE THINGS TO SAY LOL EXCEPT I SCREWED ALL THE PEOPLE BUT ITS OK BECAUSE WERE BETTER THEN THE CONSTINTUANTS WE REPRESENT. Guess what? FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE GET A JOB HAHAHA

Debbie Wasserman Shultz should be ashamed to show her face in Florida. She is a total hack for Pelosi, Reed, Obama care and other failed Dumb-o-crat plans that have put this country into a 14 Trillion dollar debt with no results. She grovels into political mud to smear a man that has served his country proudly and believes in bringing America back to its core values of Liberty and justice for all. How many of her constituents have given their country military service with honor? The proof of their actions and left wing socialistic so-called ideas are evidence enough that they should be voted out of office.
VOTE Nov. 2, 2010, "Its Time To Take The TRash Out." Allen West is the best choice to help take our country back. Do not believe the Wasserman lie and garbage , as she is just doing what comes naturally. Vote her out, America will be better off without her and her friends.

Debbie Wasserman Shultz should be ashamed to show her face in Florida. She is a total hack for Pelosi, Reed, Obama care and other failed Dumb-o-crat plans that have put this country into a 14 Trillion dollar debt with no results. She grovels into political mud to smear a man that has served his country proudly and believes in bringing America back to its core values of Liberty and justice for all. How many of her constituents have given their country military service with honor? The proof of their actions and left wing socialistic so-called ideas are evidence enough that they should be voted out of office.
VOTE Nov. 2, 2010, "Its Time To Take The TRash Out." Allen West is the best choice to help take our country back. Do not believe the Wasserman lie and garbage , as she is just doing what comes naturally. Vote her out, America will be better off without her and her friends.

The slant in this article against the protest is interesting... “It’s a sign of how worried the Democrats are that West really has a chance to win this seat,” said political scientist Sean Foreman of Barry University. “I think it’s more desperation than anything.” This concept is driven over and over in this article.

I wasn't at this protest, but I do know people who were there. The REAL HONEST reason that most of them were there wasn't because they are worried about Ron Klein's chances. It is because they are SERIOUSLY worried that an EXTREMIST like West could actually win! This West is a radical, war monger who has ideology to the extreme right. If you know this, and like him, well you are too! Most people aren't. You and this West character scare us. You are not stable people. He would have had no chance in previous elections. But the frantic mood and anger in this country is driving angry, hate-filled people like yourselves to the polls. We need stable thinking voters, even if they disagree. I vote on both sides of the ticket. A stable person, who actually understands who this West character is would never vote for him. It's that simple.

The lame attempt at harpooning the future Representative of Florida's 22nd Congressional District on Friday by Debbie Wasserman-Schultz comes at a time when many people are wondering if we should give a rest to that old saw about likability. No one doubts Americans prefer to have a beer and a burger with the charming frat boy to the student who always does his homework. But does that mean they always know who to pick?

With all the unrest and violence in the world, the wasteful corruption of misspent moneys by the Left here at home, debt and deficits as far as the eye can see, the number of unemployed and gold prices sky rocketing through the roof, no real economic policy in sight, and with a president who delegates to incompetents and cronies, the "stable" people of South Florida are now ready to give a rougher edged candidate with common sense his due and raise a glass to a serious man like Lt Col Allen West.

Also to SpeakingHonestly with respect, but Please answer this response
West is a radical, war monger ???????? How in anyones mind does a person who served OUR country for 22 years and was discharged with a rank of Lt. Col. be described as a radical war monger?. I am totally astonished at how disgraceful both DWS and Kline are promoting themselves as better then Klines opposition when one is not even in that district but I guess she thinks she is SO POWERFUL KISSING BUTT TO PELOSI AND OBAMA she can do anything she wants except and if I recall not even show up in person to her own constintuants but on TV but to bring a rally to the headquarters of Allen West shows what a lack of class both of you have and I do understand why you never did an add with your accomplisments its because YOU DON'T HAVE ANY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Judging by the avalanche of campaign contributions and the enthusiastic backing of the national GOP, Allen West is no longer a prohibitive underdog in the campaign for the 22nd Congressional District that spans coastal Broward and Palm Beach.

This means that as the race gets closer to the finish line, West will face the kind of scrutiny that comes with being a true contender.

Even these days, at public appearances, he's routinely introduced to the audience as a "war hero" -- a curious description for a soldier who resigned rather than face the threat of being court-martialed for torturing an Iraqi prisoner.

West canceled a scheduled interview with Juice last week, and we haven't heard back from his campaign this week. In the meantime, let's take a closer look at the incident that ended West's military career.

As a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, West commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 20th Field Regiment, based in the city of Taji, north of Baghdad.

According to a sworn statement West gave to military investigators, his unit received a tip on August 8, 2003, that insurgents were plotting to assassinate him. West was ordered by his superiors to alter his schedule and keep a low profile. About a week later, a convoy that would have contained West was attacked with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. None of the soldiers were hurt, but the IED blast ripped a panel off of a Humvee.

West told investigators that about a week later, the original informant furnished names of three Iraqis he believed to be part of the assassination plot. One of them was Yehiya Kadoori Hamoodi, an Iraqi police officer with whom American soldiers thought they were on friendly terms.

On August 21, 2003, based on West's order, soldiers snatched Hamoodi from the police station, hauling him to a military detention center. You can read the transcript of Hamoodi's interview on page 10 of the investigative report posted in this Slate feature about questionable treatment of detainees by American soldiers.

Hamoodi claimed that his first interrogator, an Egyptian woman, told him that she'd kill him if he didn't talk, then kicked him in the leg. West says that when he arrived at the facility, his interrogators told him that Hamoodi "was not divulging any information. I was concerned for the impending safety of my soldiers and myself."

Arriving at the interrogation room, West approached Hamoodi, took out his gun, and chambered a round. He placed it in his lap with the gun barrel facing Hamoodi. "I had drawn out my pistol as a means of conveying a threat to him for the seriousness of wanting the information," West told investigators.

Hamoodi said that after West's arrival, "a soldier pulled his shirt over his head, and numerous others began to punch him in the chest." The beating bruised his ribs, said Hamoodi, but those bruises had healed in the month that passed before he met with investigators.

Said West: "Yes, there had been sporadic body punches and shoving to the individual, which I witnessed but did not allow to get too brutal."

Hamoodi still didn't give West or the soldiers the information they wanted, either because he wasn't part of the assassination plot or because he was being an uncooperative witness.

West ordered Hamoodi out of the interrogation room and took him outside the facility, where Hamoodi says West pointed to six soldiers who were standing in line with their weapons in hand. Through the Egyptian translator, West told Hamoodi: "If you don't talk, they will kill you."

When that didn't work, West admitted to pushing Hamoodi's head into a clearing barrel full of sand, which is typically used for clearing weapons. West then put his gun into the same barrel, near Hamoodi's head and fired.

"In my anger I do not know if I fired two shots in to the barrel or one into the air and another into the barrel," said West in his sworn statement.

West claimed that the tactic worked. "Mr. Hamoodi came forth with names, location, and method of attack." The attack was to occur near the Saba al Boor police station with rooftop snipers from Fallujah, after Hamoodi signaled to them what Humvee contained West.

Soldiers set up surveillance in hopes of catching those involved in the ambush, which was supposedly scheduled for the next day. But the attack didn't occur. A search of Hamoodi's home reportedly turned up no evidence of the plot.

Hamoodi, who was interviewed by the New York Times nine months after the interrogation, said that he was never involved in any assassination plot and that the information he gave was induced by fear of death.

Hamoodi was detained for 45 days, then released without having been charged. West told the Times, "It's possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi."

West informed his superior, a colonel, that he had fired his weapon to intimidate a detainee. But according to the Times, the case didn't spark an investigation until a sergeant with another battalion mentioned the interrogation in a letter of complaint about West's heavy-handed leadership style.

The investigation found probable cause that West violated two statutes of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which forbade threatening a prisoner and assaulting him. The army initially moved forward with a criminal prosecution of West, until a hearing officer dismissed the case, fining West $5,000. He resigned in spring 2004 with full benefits from his 22-year career and settled in Plantation.

By the time the article about him appeared in the Times on May 27, 2004, West had already become a martyr to conservatives unfazed by the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal, which broke the previous month. To that set, West was heroic for putting his soldiers' safety first.

Let me get this straight. He was warned that they were going to assassinate him and he had a very clean record for 22 years so he was supposed to say oh well let them kill me I can't do anything about it even thogh they want to kill me and God knows how many others they have already killed and how many more they will kill OR do I do whatever I can to bring a stop to these insurgents to stop them from killing all of these people even if I have to take some actions which may not be totally ethical but if it can save lives and stop these killings from these people who even kill thmselves without concern then so be it. Was it anything different then what the CIA did to capture these lowlife fighters whose only interests is to kill Americans. Let me guess if he was a Democrat you would be saying YOU ARE A HERO

Let me get this straight. He was warned that they were going to assassinate him and he had a very clean record for 22 years so he was supposed to say oh well let them kill me I can't do anything about it even thogh they want to kill me and God knows how many others they have already killed and how many more they will kill OR do I do whatever I can to bring a stop to these insurgents to stop them from killing all of these people even if I have to take some actions which may not be totally ethical but if it can save lives and stop these killings from these people who even kill thmselves without concern then so be it. Was it anything different then what the CIA did to capture these lowlife fighters whose only interests is to kill Americans. Let me guess if he was a Democrat you would be saying YOU ARE A HERO

Let me get this straight. He was warned that they were going to assassinate him and he had a very clean record for 22 years so he was supposed to say oh well let them kill me I can't do anything about it even thogh they want to kill me and God knows how many others they have already killed and how many more they will kill OR do I do whatever I can to bring a stop to these insurgents to stop them from killing all of these people even if I have to take some actions which may not be totally ethical but if it can save lives and stop these killings from these people who even kill thmselves without concern then so be it. Was it anything different then what the CIA did to capture these lowlife fighters whose only interests is to kill Americans. Let me guess if he was a Democrat you would be saying YOU ARE A HERO

Klein, Meeks and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the three Stooges who have been around long enough to have done a better job..I'll take my chances with West, but the pathetic three need to get real jobs..GO WEST

First Klein, then Wasserman-Schultz -- like a democratic house of cards or a row of dominos, they will fall when the voters become more educated on how the Democrats' failed economic and social policies have sent this country into economic ruin and social chaos.

American voters are sick and tired of minority issues that politicians used to garner votes that affect the whole of the country like supporting illegal immigrants' so-called right to our country's benefits or having to provide ballots in twenty languages to vote.

Where majority rule has been forgotten, you will become a nation of splintered sects. Do we all want to end up like Iraq fighting each other based on some language or ethic long-forgotten family feud?

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About the authors

Broward County is an unusually rich territory for political news. The Broward Politics blog is devoted to the politicians, the activists, the parties, the policies, the issues, the elections - in the county and its communities.

ANTHONY MAN is the Sun Sentinel’s political writer. Concentrating on local political people, parties and trends, he also covers state and national politics from a South Florida perspective. He's coordinating the Broward Politics blog with contributions from reporters throughout the county. Before moving to the Broward political beat, he covered politics and Palm Beach County government for the Sun-Sentinel, including touch-screen voting and the Supervisor of Elections Office. He's also covered municipal, county, state, and federal elections and made repeated reporting trips to Tallahassee for regular and special sessions of the Florida Legislature. He joined the Sun-Sentinel in 2002 after covering state and local politics in Illinois. Like so many others in South Florida, he's originally from a New York suburb (Rockland County).

BRITTANY WALLMAN covers Broward County and news. A 1991 University of Florida graduate, Wallman started her journalism career at the Fort Myers News Press. She and her husband Bob Norman have two young children -- Creed and Lily. Wallman was born in Iowa and spent half her childhood there, the remainder in Oklahoma. She has covered local government and elections her entire reporting career -- including covering the infamous 2000 recount here in the presidential election. (She has a Mason jar with a "hanging chad'' inside to prove it.)

LARRY BARSZEWSKI covers Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors. In the past, he has reported on Palm Beach County government and schools, aging and social issues, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach and state legislative sessions. He wrote for the Denver Post, Bradenton Herald and Miami Herald before joining the Sun Sentinel in 1988. A Massachusetts native, he lives in Boca Raton with his wife, Maggie, and teenage daughters Jessica and Jackie.